I Need You to Love Me

Summary:
A penny for your thoughts… A picture so it lasts… Let's knock down the walls of immortality Your fingers on my skin… only you can hear my fear… only you can help me heal… i see forever with you here. It's never enough, no matter how many times I try to tell you this is love. If tomorrow never comes, I want you to know right now that I'm gonna love you until the day. I'm gonna love you like it's the last night on Earth. And though I'm undeserving, I need you to love me.

Notes:
All of this belongs to the great stephenie meyer. I am just playing with her fun toys.

4. Chapter 4

Gia blushed when they stepped into the clothing store. She had never been poor, but the various designer stores that Heidi forced her into were outrageous! She had never had so many clothes! And she had had a ton before the shopping excursion.

As kind as she thought the vampires were being, she still wanted to go home. She tried so hard not to cry. Crying would not do her any good. She had to be decisive and logical about it. She could probably outrun both of them. Her father had instilled an avid love of running into all of his children. Gia was outstandingly fast. She also had impeccable endurance. She could keep going for a while. If it came down to the grit, she could scream. Very loudly. That was a safe way to garner some attention.

Meanwhile, she would have to seem interested in shopping. Heidi led her down row after row of clothing. Jeans and khaki’s were shoved into her arms. Heidi laughed when Gia described herself as hippie. And she was. She wasn’t fat- she just had a big butt. And did not complain about it in the least. She had been blessed to have a natural hour glass figure.

Gia was vain enough to call herself pretty- not beautiful by a long shot, but pretty, nonetheless. She looked at herself in the mirror. Heidi had forced her into a pair of tight skinny jeans and a lacy black tank top. She looked pretty emo. Her red hair was bright- almost orange, but completely natural. She adored it. There was an unnatural part about her waist length hair. And that they icy blue that she had dyed the tips. It really stood out against her olive skin. It seemed like a really good idea at the time. And she still thought it was.

What did not seem like such a good idea was the whole vampire thing. Having a low threshold for pain, the idea of being in agony for however long did not appeal to her at all. In fact, she loathed it.

“Come on out so we can see!” Heidi called.

Gia grinned. Heidi was persistent. Gia nearly pranced out of the dressing room. Shopping got boring after a while but she did enjoy being pampered somewhat. It was a fatal flaw, she readily admitted. “Whaddya think?” she asked, spinning around.

Heidi laughed and clapped her hands together. “It looks wonderful!”

“Just like everything else you picked out!” Gia quipped back. Heidi smiled beautifully. Heidi was the very definition of beautiful. Her long mahogany hair curled slightly. It was just as long as Gia’s maybe longer considering how much more taller the woman was. And her eyes… such a beautiful blue violet. She was tall and statuesque: the very image of Venus incarnate.

Heidi clapped her hands on her shoulders. “I know, dear!” she teased, “I just can’t help it. You look fabulous!”

Gia pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. “Oh! You are too kind!”

The two girls laughed. Alec sulked from the chair as the two went on. You would never know that they had only known each other for two hours. No. They went on like they were the best of friends. How the predator could noisily blend in with the equally loud prey.

Boisterous.

He was getting annoyed by them. Gia twirled around once more before returning to the changing room. As soon as the door clicked shut, Heidi pounced.

“So, Alec,” she purred, perching on the arm of the chair in which he sat, “What do you think of Gia’s outfits thus far?”

He shrugged, peculiarly aware that it was important for him to remain neutral. “I don’t know. Why should I care? They all look like clothes to me,”

Heidi rolled her eyes. Angst poured off of her. “You are so dull, do you know that?” she snapped.

Alec very carefully constructed a mask of innocence on his face. He widened his eyes slightly and barely… just barely… opened his mouth. “What?” he protested, sure to keep his voice soft.

“You could at least pretend to be straight,” she replied. “And the award for the best soap-star today goes to Alec! Alec, what do you have to say? Anybody you would like to thank for winning this prestigious award?”

Damn. She had seen through his charade. Perhaps he could not act as well as he thought he could. There was always the chance that Heidi knew him too well. Yes, he decided on the latter possibility. That was the more logical choice after all.

“Shut up, Heidi,” was the only retort he could form.

“You have to admit it, she’s pretty,” Heidi said. Obviously she would not stop prodding until she found the reaction that she wanted.

Alec shrugged, determined not to give it to her. “I don’t know. Compared to most of the women I have seen, she is nothing special,”

“That is just because she is still a human and you know it. You are being so stubborn! Why not just admit that you think she is cute?” Heidi hissed at him, keeping a pleasant smile on her face and her voice at a normal tone. There was no need to alert the sales staff or Gia to their conversation.

“Maybe, because I don’t. Hmm… did that possibility ever enter your mind? Most likely not- you are far too shallow. For once and for all, no. I do not find that short scrawny human attractive. I find my gender confused sister more attractive than her!” Alec snarled. Heidi’s eyes widened in shock. Alec flinched. Perhaps he had finally gone to far. Perhaps saying that he thought his sister was more attractive had crossed the line…

Heidi suddenly let out a girlish squeal, taking Alec by surprise. Women. He would never understand them.

“So you do think she’s attractive!”

Alec looked at the vampire in disbelief. “What?” he screeched. Everything he had just said contradicted that entire statement!

Heidi looked down at him, snobbish wisdom prevalent in her eyes; her expression cocky. “You have to like her. You spend so much energy declaring that you do- going way too far from what could ever be the truth to try to convince me that you do not like her. So, logically, you do like her!”

“What? No!” Alec vehemently protested. Heidi’s smirk only grew. She looked down at him like a mother looks at a child when she catches it with its hand in the cookie jar. She was firmly entrenched in her belief that Alec had developed a crush on Gia. That was as far from the truth as possible.

“Whatever you say, dear,” Heidi said in a sing song voice.

Alec huffed loudly as the dressing room door swung open. There stood Gia in soft white sun dress. She looked down self-consciously and Alec could not help but notice how the dress emphasized a certain part of her body that he had never even thought to pay attention to. He blinked several times, shocked. He never noticed Heidi’s grin grow into a full-blown smile. He should not have put it past the vixen to time the conversation with the outfit.

Gia fingered the hem of the dress nervously. “You don’t think it’s a little too short, do you?” Her tone of voice made it clear that she thought that.

Heidi shrugged. “You’re a big girl now. You deserve some sexy clothes. But you are right,” Heidi cocked her head to the side, as if thinking. Alec knew very well that Heidi had foreseen the problem and already had a solution for it. The vixen certainly knew how to manipulate people into her playing field. “You should wear some leggings. In case you decided to be weird and walk on your hands,” Heidi looked at Gia chastisingly. Gia just flashed her an angelic smile and picked up to the pile of clothes that Heidi had dubbed “keepers”.

Heidi quickly tossed a pair of black tights onto the pile. Gia flushed in embarrassment and Alec wondered why. The price was much higher than Alec had expected. He was not bother though. Not only were his masters the most feared vampires… they were also the wealthiest. Money would never be a problem.

Gia went to the restrooms so she could wear the hose. Alec tapped his foot impatiently. He had to wait outside the door while Heidi went to get the car. The clouds in the sky were starting to break up. They would have to be quick. Gia came out and Alec was again floored. The tights only covered a little past her knee. They were also skin tight. He grudgingly admitted that she had nice legs.

Both of the teens sat in the back of the car on the way home. Heidi had used the front for the clothes that could not be folded lest they be ruined. All day long, Gia had been making a rumbling noise. it quickly got annoying. Now it was unbearable.

“Will you stop that?” he turned to face her and snapped.

Gia had to fiddle with her seatbelt before she could look at him. “Stop what?” she asked with equal heat.

“That grumbling noise!” He was aware that he was not very descriptive, but that was the only word that could describe that growling noise!

“You mean my stomach rumbling?” Gia asked in disbelief.

“Is that what that is?”

“You can actually hear it?”

“I’ve been hearing it all day. So, if you would kindly stop,” he tried to remain calm. Calm always worked better.

“Because that is the body’s way of telling a person they need to eat,” Gia explained. Her face was bright red.

Heidi smacked her forehead. “That’s right! I forgot! I knew that I had forgotten something, but I just couldn’t remember what! For the longest time, I thought that I had left my credit cards back in Volterra. I knew that wasn’t it whenever we got to the stores.

“Gia, I am so sorry. I completely forgot in my enthusiasm for shopping that you needed to get something to eat.”

Gia flushed. “It’s alright. I forget to eat all the time,”

“That’s not very healthy,”

“Well, I’m most certainly not the world’s most healthiest person,” Gia agreed with the vixen.

“Why does your stomach growl to tell you you are hungry? Most people remember that they are hungry,” Alec snarled. He had hopefully found her lying. He needed a reason to hate her. Heidi couldn’t be right. She just couldn’t.

“That is my stomach digesting itself,” Gia stated confidently.

“WHAT?” Heidi screamed and turned around. Alec had never seen her so alarmed.

Gia backed up. On her face was the look of pure terror.

“You are digesting yourself?” Heidi shrieked.

“Yeah! My stomach is empty. It’s been trying to digest air but since that isn’t really working, it’s moved on to the fat and vitamin deposits stored in my body.”

“What fat?” Alec found himself asking before he could think. Heidi immediately turned her triumphant eyes to him. Gia did nto seem to notice his remark.

“Watch the road!” she screamed.

“We need to get you some food,” Heidi declared in a matter-of-fact tone.

“That is just great, but please! WATCH THE ROAD!” Gia screamed. She grabbed Alec’s arm. He looked at her in surprise. She seemed to constantly do that to him. For the past six hundred years, he had remained fairly stoic. But in the twenty-four hours that Alec had known Gia, she had surprised him almost constantly.

“Oh fine.” Heidi rolled her eyes in exasperation. She reverted her gaze back to the road. Slowly, Gia’s grip on Alec’s arm loosened. Her heart beat returned to normal. Alec let her hold on until she willingly pried herself off.

“Sorry,” she muttered, looking down.

He shrugged. Neutral. He must remain neutral at all times. “It’s fine,” he said in a monotonous voice. Heidi glared at him in the rear view mirror. Alec smirked. He had won that round.

The human ate slowly as well as daintily. Alec had forgotten that there was such a thing as table manners and dinner etiquette. She munched on her chicken parmigiana. Alec could hear just how hungry she was and was amazed at the self-control she had. He figured that most humans would have just wolfed it down as fast as possible.

After that, much to his chagrin, there was more shopping. But, sadly, not for Gia. No. This time, they forced him into outfit after outfit after outfit. Even with his impeccable memory, he would have a hard time keeping the different assortments separate.

They entered one particular store and were immediately set upon by a saleswoman. She looked the three up and down appraisingly before nodding her head. Putting her best- meaning biggest and cheesiest- smile forward, she asked, “How may I help you?”

“My brother needs to purchase some casual clothes,” Heidi said. They had rehearsed this act so many times that even the honest vixen did not seem to think there was a lie. They were close enough to be siblings. Heidi, after all, was one of the very few that Alec considered family. Alec nodded his head in affirmation.

“Well, I think that I can be of assistance.” The woman smiled, “This way please to our young men selections,”

The three followed her to a wide range of designer clothes. They all looked exactly the same as the clothes in all of the other stores, Alec realized. All that was different was the labels on them. He shrugged. Oh well, he would never understand.

He found it odd. All of the clothes he was forced into purchasing where either incredibly tight or excessively baggy. There was no middle ground. He knew instinctively if he were to wear any of the knew clothes, it would be the uncomfortably tight ones. Extra cloth would be a hinderance.

“Oh you look so adorable!” Heidi squealed. For added effect, she pinched his cheek. The saleswoman- she had never introduced herself- watched, hiding a smirk poorly behind her hand. Alec scowled.

He was in a pair of light blue skinny jeans and a black polo. He felt like an idiot. He kept his head down, eyes locked on the floor. He looked stupid. That much was obvious from Gia’s reaction. He wasn’t sure why that made him feel so depressed.

“Can he wear them out?” Heidi asked. “Anything to get him out of that suit,”

The woman nodded. “Yes. He did look a little too old for his age in that,”

“Tell me about it,” Heidi mumbled while Alec whispered,

“You have no idea,”

Gia just smiled. Again, they spent much more than Alec thought they would. But once more, he did not care. Heidi insisted that he carry all of the bags. They were for him after all.

Alec piled them in the trunk, very careful to not mix them with Gia’s. Heidi had forced them both to buy new unmentionables. If he could have, he would have blushed. It had been the most embarrassing moment of his life when Heidi had asked him, “Boxers or briefs?”

No. Correction. That was the second most embarrassing moment. The most embarrassing was when Gia became fed up with his stuttering and checked for herself, announcing “Boxers!” to the world.

He’d get her for that one. He was sure of it.

He peered at her closely, trying to come up with a way of revenge. It would have to be something equally as embarrassing. The only problem was the he did not know her well enough to know what was embarrassing for her and what was not. Revenge was only good as long as the victim felt shame- and quite a bit of it. That was when he noticed her ears. She had on ridiculously long earrings. They were shinny black plastic and metal, and hung down to nearly her shoulders. But that was not the only oddity. She had two more piercings on the lobe; two on the top of her ear and one that he did not know what it was called.

“How many holes do you have in your ears?” he blurted out, astonished.

Gia grinned at him. “Several. I have three lobes on each ear, then two on the top part of my ear but only on the left side. Then, I also have a tragus piercing on my left ear. On my right ear, I have it pierced twice in the middle of my ear- those are called auricles, by the way- instead of the top and then I have a daith piercing.

“That is a total of thirteen, but I’m thinking of letting my tragus and daith piercings grow back. I don’t want to look like a freak forever. Besides, I want to get other stuff pierced too,”

“Like what?” Alec couldn’t help but ask. He had never considered getting a whole punched through any part of his body before. He supposed that it would hurt.

“That’s what everybody says. But I did my research. The tongue only hurts after it’s done, not during. Which is good because I have a low threshold for pain. For the healing pain… well, that’s what Advil’s for,” she cheekily grinned.

“What about your eyebrow and nose?” Alec asked, “Do those hurt?”

“Nah,” Gia shook her head. “Your nose is all cartilage. The eyebrow won’t hurt any worse than the tragus. Now let me tell you, the daith hurt. I couldn’t decide between a daith and a rook. The guy told me that the daiths hurt less, so I went with that. I think that it was a lie. I might get a rook just to see, you know?”

Alec shook his head. He had no idea what she was talking about. They all looked like they would hurt to him.

Gia continued on, unabashed. Apparently, it had been a rhetorical question. “I went with my coach to get her ear pierced. She got an orbital. Let me tell you, that looked like it hurt. She said it did. My mom wasn’t too pleased when I came back with thirteen holes instead of the four that I had left the house with, but what could she do? And those are only the ones she knows about. I’ve-”

Gia stopped suddenly. She was bright red.

“What?” Alec asked, intensely curious.

“Nothing,” Gia said a little too quick. Alec knew that whatever it was, it was interesting.

“Leave her alone, Alec,” Heidi ordered. The vixen had a good idea what Gia was about to admit. She would save her new friend from having to admit that embarrassment.

“Oh look, the sun’s out,” Gia commented, staring out the window.

Alec habitually moved away a little from the tinted windows. His secret would never be revealed when he was in the confines of the car, but still. He was always cautious. Gia noticed.

“Why doesn’t the sun burn you?” she asked.

Alec shrugged. “That is just a stupid myth. A lot of what you probably think you know about vampires is false.”

“We don’t go out in the sun because we are rather ostentatious.” Heidi gave her input, “I’m sure remember from earlier.”

Gia nodded.

“We have to keep our existence secret from the humans. For obvious reasons,” Alec concluded.

“Why didn’t you keep yourself a secret from me?” Gia fired out, venom in her words.

“We meant to,” Heidi answered. “But, when we found you, we knew then that you were destined to be one of us. Some humans are,”

“How long have you wanted me to become one of you?” Gia whispered so softly that it was difficult for Alec, even with his enhanced hearing, to hear her.

“For a few years,” Heidi admitted. She preempted Gia’s next question, “I was not the one who discovered you. That was Gabriel-” Alec’s mouth dropped in shock, “I was assigned to fetch you. That’s what I am, after all. The fisherman,” Heid’s mouth turned into a coy smile. She enjoyed luring the humans to their banquet.

“So you’re not supposed to let the world know about vampires?” Gia asked, “That seems a bit unfair,”

Alec bobbed his shoulders, “What are you gonna do about it?”

“This,”

Before he could stop her, Gia opened her door. She rolled gracefully out of the car and took off running as fast as she could in the opposite direction.